Field Observations of Near-Surface Wind Flow Across Expressway Embankment on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Crushed rock layers (CRLs), ventilation ducts (VDs) and thermosyphons are air-cooling structures (ACSs) widely used for maintaining the long-term stability of engineered infrastructures in permafrost environments. These ACSs can effectively cool and maintain the permafrost subgrade’s frozen state under climate warming by facilitating heat exchange with ambient air in cold seasons. As convection is a crucial working mechanism of these ACSs, it is imperative to understand the near-surface wind flow (NSWF) across a constructed infrastructure, such as an embankment. This article describes a yearlong field observation of the NSWF across an experimental expressway embankment, the first of its kind on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). The wind speed and direction along a transect perpendicular to the embankment on both the windward and leeward sides and at four different heights above the ground surface were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the embankment has a considerable impact on the NSWF speed within a distance of up to ten times its height, and in the direction on the leeward side. A power law can well describe the speed profiles of NSWF across the embankment, with the power-law indices (PLIs) varying from 0.14 to 0.40. On an annual basis, the fitted NSWF PLI far away from the embankment was 0.19, which differs substantially from the values widely used in previous thermal performance evaluations of ACSs on the QTP. Finally, the significance of the NSWF to the thermal performance of the ACSs, particularly the CRLs and VDs, in linear transportation infrastructure is discussed. It is concluded that underestimating the PLI and neglecting wind direction variations may lead to unconservative designs of the ACSs. The results reported in this study can provide valuable guidance for infrastructure engineering on the QTP and other similar permafrost regions.